The following description relates to an environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) and, more particularly, to an embedded ECLSS that uses a compact form factor.
In certain vehicles, such as space vehicles, an ECLSS is responsible for maintaining a livable environment. For a manned satellite, for example, the onboard ECLSS therefore includes multiple motors, actuators, pumps, valves, heaters and other operable equipment that cooperatively control various environmental conditions in the living space. Each piece of equipment can be independently controlled and operated.
As demands for reduced equipment sizes and decreased power requirements become increasingly significant over time, it becomes necessary to handle the independent controls of the ECLSS equipment through a single operational device. Recently, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) device has been proposed as such as device and typically includes a backplane, a power supply and a card cage. The card cage is designed for mechanical packaging and includes a chassis with multiple slots for mounting cards therein. Various cards can be inserted into the slots for controlling respective pieces of ECLSS equipment. The backplane distributes communication and power signals between the cards mounted in the slots.
In current PCI devices, the cards are not hot-swappable. If one card is found to be non-functional, another card cannot be simply plugged into the slot the non-functional card was plugged into to take its place.